textures in Lout

[Jeff Kingston]

The next release of Lout, due out in the next few weeks,  will
have textures (known in PostScript as patterns).  When requested,
these cause areas that would otherwise appear in solid colour
to be textured.

Wherever there is currently a "paint" option there will be a
corresponding "texture" option.  There is also a "@Texture"
symbol analogous to "@Colour".

If you are interested in textures, please take a look at

    ftp://ftp.it.usyd.edu.au/jeff/lout/textures.ps

and let me have your comments and suggestions.  This is an excerpt
from the next version of the User's Guide, describing how to get
textures.

One area I would welcome guidance on is the particular set of
textures that people need easy access to.  I've implemented
stripes, dots, chessboard, brickwork, and a texture made of a
sequence of characters.  All textures can be shifted, scaled,
and rotated.  It would be easy to add more textures.  Is there
a standard set of textures?

Another area we could discuss is the degree of support for
patterns in PostScript implementations.  My printer is fine
but my on-screen viewer (gv circa 1997) does not show patterns.

Jeff Kingston